Cannibal Rat-Infested Ghost Ship Headed For The UK?

Adrift in the North Atlantic Sea swirls Lyubov Orlova, an unmanned Yugoslavian-built hulk cruise ship with a crew of cannibalistic rats.

“She is floating around out there somewhere,” Pim de Rhoodes, a Belgian salvage hunter who seeks Lyubov Orlova, told The Sun. “There will be a lot of rats and they eat each other. If I get aboard I'll have to lace everywhere with poison.”

There have been no reports concerning the ships whereabouts since March of last year when two beacons sounded and found two of the ship’s six lifeboats. Those in charge of patrolling North Atlantic waters aren’t so sure where the vessel currently resides, despite

With key words like “could” and a “strong chance”, some news sources speculate the ship may soon wash ashore in the U.K. Yet, despite unnamed experts speculating the arrival of the rat infested ghost ship, those patrolling the seas are unsure of its location.

“Normal coastal surveillance activities are carried out which are aware of the issue of the vessel,” the Irish Coast Guard said in a statement. “There is no further action required by Ireland and there are no reports and sightings.”

The U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency echoed similar words: “We have received no reported sightings of the vessel since April last year, but we will respond accordingly.”

The Russian-registered ship was originally created in 1976 for cruises of polar explorations of the Antarctic and Arctic Circle; an L.A. times’ Travel article described the ship as a cozy, comfortable, ice-reinforced vessel that offered any passenger exposure to the coldest parts of the world.

The former crew of 49 Russians and two Ukrainians were left unpaid for over four months, thus deserting their ship where it remained in Canada until 2012; the Dominican Republic made a deal to scrap all 1,526 tons (1,420 tonne) of the vessel.

As if becoming aware of its final sailing, the vessel broke free in Caribbean when high waves of up to 18 feet (5.5 meters) caused the towline to the tug boat to snap.

Lyubov Orlova, named after a beloved 1930s star of Russian cinema, is worth an estimated $1.1 million, perking the interests in salvage hunters.

Quartz reported that sailors discovered the existence of at least seven other ghost ships in the last 15 years.